Into Oregon To John Day

More hills and trees appear and the road starts to climb. Also of note is that US-395 has been resurfaced – difficult to say when – but the roadway is smooth and perfect to drive on. The first great section of road is announced by the sign for the “Battle Mountain Forest State Scenic Corridor”. Now there’s a mouthful! The road here is also known as the World War One Veterans Memorial Highway. I have not been able to discover a specific reason why this stretch of highway is so designated, in respect of if there is some link to WW1, or if it’s just an American way of honouring the military.

This Scenic Corridor is not very long. I’d guess about three miles or so but it’s twisty and has great curves and turns. It rises to a mountain pass of 4284 feet. The road’s curves aren’t tight – sweeping might be a good adjective – so 40-50 mph can safely be maintained. There are a few bends that require a bit more attention. As usual, there are few safety barriers at the road edge to prevent you plummeting down a mountain side. It was an excellent first bit of decent driving this trip. I hope for more.

I arrive at the Ukiah-Dale Forest State Scenic Corridor a few miles further on. This is longer than Battle Mountain at about 12 miles long. It is brilliant. Gorgeous scenery as the road first tracks the Camas Creek along a valley floor. This river then feeds into the North Fork John Day River, again tracking the road side-by-side.

Again no tight bends but there’s no room for errors, complete concentration required to keep up a decent speed as the sunlight breaks through the tree canopy lining the mountain-sides. The road twists and turns along the valley floor, following the course of the river as it meanders through the mountains. Truly an excellent drive.

I start to climb a few miles south. The road here is not so twisty; it’s almost as if it’s wrapping itself around this mountain. I reach the Ritter Butte Summit at 3993 feet. The descent is equally as good. The southbound lane is on the mountain edge again, so… be careful.

It’s Quiet Out There

There are very few towns on the route today. Mostly just small settlements in the middle of nowhere. It’s almost a wilderness. I do wonder how and where the residents buy food and supplies. As far as I can see there’s no shops within miles. Many, many miles.

Equally no ‘industry’ to see and it’s tricky to figure out what farming is done here. There are a few – and I mean a few – herds of cows here and there. But it doesn’t look like arable land either. I don’t see fields of wheat or corn. It’s certainly not fruit farming like further north, and I see no vineyards. Most strange.

I arrive in Mt Vernon, a small town. After the last mountain the road was mainly undulating and generally straight-ish through the grass-filled fields that line the road. US-395 S turns left here with 8 miles to go to John Day. I fill up with gas just outside John Day then drive on into town to find the Best Western John Day Inn right in the centre.

The Shower Don’t Work

My room is somewhat outdated in style but it is clean and functional. Apart from the shower, which doesn’t work. I call the receptionist who comes up to have a look and he confirms it is indeed knackered. Why didn’t housekeeping report this, I ask in vain. But Michael, the receptionist, has a problem. He tells me he’s fully booked – a fact I find hard to believe in this neck of the woods on a Sunday night – so can’t move me to another room. Nor can he discount the room because I booked through a third-party (he stated Expedia, which was untrue, I did book direct: but that’s not the point, I want a working shower, not a discount).

I think to myself that I am stuffed here. It’s 4pm on a Sunday afternoon, no working shower and from what I recall there’s nowhere else in town to stay. Then Michael says: “I could call our maintenance guy to see if he could fix it.” Well blow me down with a feather. F******* shit wonder brain, why didn’t you think of this five minutes ago?

He tells me the guy lives really nearby. But instead of calling – phoning – him, he Facebook Messages him. Michael promises me he’ll let me know what, if anything, is going to happen “within 10 minutes”. I do not hear again from Michael.

Instead, 15 minutes later, there is a knock at my door. It is Maintenance Man. He does not reveal his name. I show MM the problem. He thinks he might be able to fix it, “but I need to see what spare parts I’ve got.”

Bottom line is that about 40 minutes later, after a couple of trips to get tools and spare parts from his ‘office’, he fixes the shower. Yippee! I thank him profusely and apologise for interrupting his Sunday afternoon. No problem, he replies.

Dinner at The Outpost

I settle down for some diary and magazine reading until leaving at 7 pm for The Outpost. It’s 100 yards up the road in the center of John Day – it’s a Pizza, Pub & Grill. Michael recommended this as “the best place in town” after I mentioned the brewery pub I’d planned on going to turned out to be closed on a Sunday. As it always is. A bit of an oversight on my part, but when some online comments I saw mentioned it as “a great place to watch sports” I obviously – mistakenly – assumed it would be open on NFL Sunday. Wrong. It reminded me of the sports bar in Winslow that also closed on a Sunday, which of course led me to the great RelicRoad Brewing Company… 🙂

After walking down the street, once inside I get a seat at the bar. Clayton, my barman for the night, is hospitable but busy. I select a Fresh Squeezed IPA beer to drink after a couple of samples and order a Rueben sandwich to eat. Both were excellent.

Some time later a chap turns up and sits to my left. Another guy comes to the bar wearing a t-shirt with a music group’s name on it, which I don’t know of, but ‘left man’ comments on it. They start chatting about music, mostly country stuff, so I keep quiet…

Route 66

When the other guy leaves the bar, ‘left man’ – another Michael – asks me what I’m doing here, “as you’re clearly not from around here.” He’d obviously heard me talking to Clayton. We end up having a good old chat about road trips, especially Route 66. He lived in Albuquerque for a while and says he’s always wanted to do the trip. He raised the issue of the different alignments. “How do you decide where to drive?” he asked me.

Cue an introduction to him of the Route 66 Navigation app. I explain it’s not perfect but as a guide to driving the original Route 66 – what’s left of it – it can’t be beaten. He thinks it looks great and takes down the details on his phone. He then bought me a beer as a thank you!

Time for him to depart though. We shake hands, he wishes me well for the rest of my trip and I say I hope he does Rt 66 one day.

I write some diary at the bar for a while but then decide at 9.15 pm to return to my room and have a beer from the fridge rather than paying for another in the bar. I bid farewell to Clayton and walk back the short distance in the warm night air. A bit more diary whilst I sup, then watch some NFL catch-up on TV and then it’s lights out.

Overall it was a good day. Some great road sections to drive on – maybe not enough – and a good evening in The Outpost. More US-395 S beckons tomorrow.